Local gospel choir ready to rock some soul Brighter weather on horizon this week for Cochecho arts fest

Wednesday

Jul 31, 2013 at 3:15 AM

By Kendall Salterksalter@fosters.com

DOVER — The Cochecho Arts Festival rolls into its fourth week with brighter weather on the horizon after damp weather on Friday night.

Area residents took advantage of the sunshine to flock to Tuesday morning’s Children’s Series performance by Linda Peck. Michael Mengers, community events manager for the Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce said that about 500 people attended the event.

After some light rainfall kept some potential spectators at home during last Friday’s concert by the Mallett Brothers Band, Mengers said that he hopes the festival will have better luck this week.

“The weather has been playing tricks on us so far,” Mengers said.

Taking the stage at Henry Law Park this Friday is Rock My Soul, a gospel choir from South Berwick, Maine. According to its website, Rock My Soul is made up of members from all spiritual backgrounds and uses music to “reach across divides and bring audiences together.”

For the second straight year, Rock My Soul will be preceded by local singer Martin England. Mengers said that the festival committee usually tries to rotate performers from year to year, but that last year’s concert was so popular that he and the committee were excited to invite them again.

“It is a genre of music that I don’t think is out there a lot,” Mengers said. “The crowd loves them over there so we decided to bring them back.”

The festival’s fourth week will also feature Durham band Truffle and their blend of rock and soul. Truffle will perform as part of the Shark in the Park series on Thursday afternoon. The North River Trio, participating in the festival for the first time, is scheduled to perform during Wednesday’s farmer’s market outside of the Chamber of Commerce.

All performances are free and open to the public. For more information on the Cochecho Arts Festival, visit www.CochechoArtsFestival.org or call (603) 742-2218.